Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away (Seattle, WA), I had a few records and a turn table. Not that I would have known what to do with Peter Frampton Live and the Sex Pistols, but I knew that without a second turn table and impeccable timing, I didn't stand half a chance at becoming even a hobbyist disc jockey. I just knew I wanted to spin the tunes.
The appeal of being a DJ may be lost on the upcoming generation. On Lockergnome.net, a question about what DJ's do for a party (since they aren't playing musical instruments) came up on the community-powered forum created by Chris Pirillo. In the thread, various replies intimated that the real worth of DJs lies in his powers to spin emotional landscapes as much as it is to spin tunes. On the heels of watching Christopher Nolan's, "Inception", I'll add to that description by saying that while musicians and singers are the prophets of this age, DJ's are the new architects of the our subconscious projections.
Many moons later, I find myself the owner of a Carvin sound system (from my former band gigging days as a singer, keyboardist, and sometimes bass player), an iPad, and a generously stocked iTunes gift card to download the latest music apps. Thanks to the iPad DJ Rana Sobhany's tip, I concur with her thumbs up of Looptastic, which allows even n00bs like me to seamlessly mix looped presets with interchangeable musical elements, such as hi hats and melody lines.
Filmed at my office on a VADO 3rd gen
One doesn't need perfect timing, nor a steady hand. Looptastic's buttons allow you to add and subtract musical elements, yet only on the beat. Even a young child can slide the buttons up and down, or return them to a holding deck below the "score".
Once my iPad gets in proximity of Chris Pirillo's iPad, the next level of ultimate DJ'ing can be explored. Looptastic for iPad allows you to synch two iPads together, so you can run another music set simultaneously. The app also allows you to record your masterpiece, so you can reproduce to your heart's content without having to rely on recall.
Of course, I've already downloaded Groovemaker, iElectribe, and iDaft. I'll likely be testing a decent piano app, as well as something like Sonosaurus Rex for iPad (I heard the updates for the iPad make this a sick addition to what I've got already, along with the ability to save your files to iTunes for future use). Andrew and Andrew (two iPad DJ's) have a demo of Sonosaurus Rex, an iTunes app that you can download to your laptop, connect the laptop to your tuner and speakers, and use the iPad as your wireless controller interface, allowing the iPad DJ to wirelessly roam the planet - or, at least the venue floor! - spinning tunes while interacting with a crowd. I'd just make sure I had Mobile Me on the iPad, especially if you are holding a drink-i-pooh in the other hand.
I've always loved the concept of tools that even the playing field, and Looptastic HD for iPad definitely allows just about anyone with an iPad to unlock unlimited possibilities in musical architecture. I only wish I had had one of these when I was painstakingly banging out Rachmaninoff to scholarship my way through college. We don't need to settle for Bethovan's Fifth set to a disco beat. Now we can give the world Jason Moran and Billie Holiday, wrapped up in the warm cocoon of Dub-step, without rolling out the heavy equipment and wires.
As I tweeted out to my community, I think I'll dust off my old stage name and recirculate it. Please welcome Trixie Bon Bon, Seattle iPad DJ. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter, as I round the corner into the last days of my 365-1/4 days as the n00b of Social Media.
Nice article. Have you checked out magic piano yet?
ReplyDeleteNice article.
ReplyDeleteEric gives a virtual thumbs up!